Celebrity hairstylist and Herbal Essences spokesperson Bridget Brager cuts and styles the manes of some of Hollywood’s most fashionable women. She dishes her tips for achieving your best hair at home.

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photo credit: instagram/beau_nelson

Take risks that suit your personality like Kristen Stewart

When Kristen Stewart came to Bridget Brager while doing press for the film Personal Shopper and said she wanted the hairstylist to shave her head, Brager was all for it. They had an hour and a half between the press day and premiere, so they went into the bathroom with Kristen’s whole team and shaved off her hair. “It was all women and we championed her decision,” says Brager. “Because it’s a big decision for a face like that.” But it suited Kristen’s strong, fearless personality.

“I want to make women feel on the outside what they feel on the inside. And we all have that strength in us — whether it means cutting a layer or a bang, or colouring our hair red.”

So take the risks that suit you… or even push you just a little bit outside of your comfort zone.

Play with your part like Diane Kruger

Short and medium-length hair was trendy for fall, so many celebs are still rocking a short ‘do. To change it up, Brager recommends playing with parting to make an impact. “There are three partings that I go to,” she says. “There’s the mid-part, which I’ve done on Margot Robbie. It goes well with a haphazard, no-fuss curl. Then parting where your eyebrow comes to a point is a safe place for a side part.” Finally, if you’re looking for a dramatic touch, try a deep side part that starts at the end of one eyebrow, as pictured on Diane Kruger. “It’s really ’90s, and the hair texture can be super straight or wavy. Doesn’t matter. The first thing you see is that parting.”

Get a body perm to enhance texture like Emma Stone

For women who have fine, straight hair, a body perm is the (non-Grandma) way to get seemingly natural texture. “Emma Stone just had one at the Mare Salon in West Hollywood,” says Brager. “Jaime King also had a body perm recently.” The perm creates a loose wave, rather than a tight curl, that’s easy to style straight but also has a cool-girl bend to it when you do nothing at all.

Use your earrings to accessorize your hairstyle like Kate Bosworth

“Accessories just aren’t stopping right now,” says Brager. Layering in a clip, band, elastic or other fun bit of eye candy is an “easy way to brighten your look or add a little bit of excitement.” When Brager did the above knot on Kate Bosworth at the Venice Film Festival, she had previously lost her kit at the Rome airport and only had access to a few personal items. Brager was struck by inspiration and “used Kate’s earrings as a little bit of décor. It suited that outfit and Venice, because they had to take a ferry everywhere they went,” which meant Kate’s hairstyle had to look flawless despite the wind.

Brager has worked with Bosworth for quite a few years, and they have a running Instagram feed with hair inspiration. “It’s a partnership and I love it. We come up with these creations,” she says. “Sometimes they’re mine and sometimes they’re hers and sometimes they’re a hybrid from something one of us has seen in a magazine somewhere.”

Use these three points as a guide for a flattering knot or ponytail like Darby Stanchfield

If you want a “pretty profile shot,” says Brager (of course, she’s thinking of the snaps, since her clients are constantly photographed) there are three flattering points where you can secure your elastic when creating a bun or ponytail. For a high pony or knot, secure it at the centre of the crown of the head. For a low style, try the nape of the neck. And for something in the middle, like the ponytail seen on Scandal‘s Darby Stanchfield, run your fingers from the top of each ear to the back of your head. The point where they connect is where the base of your pony should hit.

Cut your mane into a blunt shag like January Jones

If Brager had to pick one haircut that’s the style for spring/summer 2018, she’d go with the blunt shag. “It’s not layered, it’s cut into,” she says. “And there’s not a ton of framing around the face” — unless you get bangs, too, of course. “The pieces that lie around the face are detached and the whole style just lends itself really well to natural texture.”

Create a sleek, shiny updo like Bridget Moynahan

If you want smooth, reflective hair for your knot or ponytail, start by brushing your hair back firmly with a boar-bristle brush and securing it with an elastic. Then emulsify a créme gel in your hands and rake it through the hair. Lightly brush over the gel with your brush as you blow it dry on a low setting (or using a diffuser). And voila! High sheen.

Upgrade your bun like Kate Bosworth

Take a classic bun and give it a twist — literally! — with Brager’s step-by-step tutorial:

Start with dry hair.

Brush your hair back with a boar-bristle brush and tightly secure it with an elastic at the middle of your head (draw a line from the top of the left ear to the top of the right and the midpoint is the correct height).

Emulsify Herbal Essences Soft Control Créme Gel in your hands and “slap it on. I literally rake it in and then brush over it,” Brager says.

Take your blow dryer on its low setting and dry the gel as you lightly brush it in place.

Start with a tiny section, add créme gel and twist it until it coils down. Wrap the first 10 or so tiny coiled sections round the base of the ponytail for width and secure each one with pins. Brager used approximately 100 pins for the entire style.

Once you have some width at the base, arrange your remaining sections in coils on top and secure with pins.

Try Bridget Brager’s favourite products and tools

When asked about the very best styling tools, Brager gushed over Harry Josh’s hot tool collection (currently only available in the U.S.), Mason Pearson boar-bristle hairbrushes and YS Park hair pins. Her go-to products are Herbal Essences Soft Control Créme Gel (“A lot of people are nervous about gels, but I’m not. The more the better!”) and Set Me Up Mousse (“Mousse is my foundation for everything. It adds texture and hold and is a great protector”).